I saw this story in the Coventry Telegraph – they’ve done a “freedom of information” request to the DSA and discovered that someone who lives in Coventry has taken and failed their driving test 24 times before passing. I think the whole thing has been prompted by that woman who failed her test 90 times (reported in March this year).
All the tests were from, the same test centre – and one candidate there even passed in 26 tries, although they had taken tests in various locations.
The DSA will not name the person (quite right), so at the end of this article the Telegraph asks:
Do you know the city’s most persistent learner driver? If so call Telegraph reporter Sam Dimmer on…
I’m not sure I agree with that. To be honest, it’s not really anyone’s business except the person involved – though I’m sure a financial incentive might make them more amenable to being identified publicly.
A driving instructor interviewed for the article makes a valid point – albeit in an obscure manner, though I suspect that that might be to do with the editing rather than the point he made. I would also agree that someone who takes that long and that many tries might not be the best driver in the world.
A follow up story by the Telegraph reveals that the driver in question is a man “according to sources in the city”.
Now a host of people in the city believe they’ve identified the city’s most determined driver.
They say he’s in his twenties and lives in the Foleshill area, and since passing his test he’s been busy racking up miles on Coventry’s roads.
They’re bang out of order. It’s like winning the Lottery, asking for no publicity, then having some idiot newspaper reporter blow your cover. It could ruin your life (well, it could if you’d won the Lottery – but the point is the same).
Still, at least the junior hack has eased off – probably because his “sources” have provided a name and he’s been told he can’t spill the beans by his bosses:
Are you Coventry’s most persistent learner driver? If so call reporter Sam Dimmer on…